Android Studio 3.3 disallows adaptive icons for SDK version less than 26

For me, in AS 3.4, I had to:

Android Studio: File | Project Structure

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It did not work for me to be able use add New | Image Asset due to the Adaptive Icons UNTIL I did that final step of remove SDK 25 from the list even after trying to correctly select the Project SDK and the Build Target.

I had tried several things and this was the final step that made it work for me. I don't know if this is particular to something in my configuration, but this got me past it.


which AS version handles this correctly; 3.2.1 or 3.3?

Presumably 3.3, since adaptive icons were added in Android 8.0 (API Level 26).

Should I remove my v25 icon?

Change the directory to mipmap-anydpi-v26/, and you can still use that icon for Android 8.0+. If your minSdkVersion is below that (and I assume that it is), you will need an alternative implementation of the icon for the older devices.

I thought Lollipop had support for this type of icons...

Lollipop is Android 5.x, API Level 21-22. Your -v25 directory would not be used for those API levels.


I had the same problem, the reason was I messed up with the files manually but I didn't notice it until the update. In my case, after update to AS 3.3, the files in conflict were:

  • drawable/ic_launcher_background.xml
  • drawable-v24/ic_launcher_foreground.xml

Although AS builds with without errors by changeing the min sdk "minSdkVersion 26" on app/build.gradle, it isn't practical for publishing purposes. the easy quick solution was:

  • create a blank new project
  • copy the exact same files
  • and replace them in the conflicted project